Railroad car conditioning system



April 3, 1934. H.. R. ARF Er AL RAILROAD CAR CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 24, 1930 IN V EN TOR.

`Patented Apr. 3, 1934 STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILROAD DAR CONDITIUNING SYSTEM poration of New York Application February 24, 1930, Serial No. 430,"716'2 ilaims.

This invention relates to method of for cooling and air conditioning the an enclosure such as a railroad car.

An object of the invention is to provide a system for controlling the temperature and relative humidity of air in a railroad car, which will suit the peculiar requirements of installation on moving or rolling equipment. Thus, in providing an arrangement of apparatus for air conditioning a railroad car, applicants have utilized Ithe under surface of the car and areas within the car, with a maximum of economy and substantially no loss to the equipment, appointments and utility of the useful area ordinarily provided or employed.

Another object of the invention contemplates the assembly of refrigeration and air conditioning apparatus in combination with a system for distributing air throughout a given area in accordance with prescribed needs, which is simple in 2u design, readily accessible for inspection and repair and flexible in its operating capacity to meet extreme conditions. The needs of a railroad car, in the air conditioning of its interior, are as varied as the vagaries of outdoor weather. A car may be in the desert oneday and traveling over mountain peaks the next. Traic demands may tax a cars capacity to the utmost at one time, while leaving it quite empty at another time. Applicants system takes cognizance of the varied de- 30 mands of railroad traflic and makes allowance for extremes in requirements. And this is done with a maximum of efciency in air distribution and in operating expense.

Another object contemplates usingthe structure and design of a railroad car for aiding in the installation of refrigerating and airconditioning apparatus and for simplifying as Well as improving methods of distribution for maintaining equable conditions of temperature and relative humidity throughout the car interior. As a result, former waste space, ordinarily not employed in railroad car operation or traflic accommodation, is utilized in maintaining and positioning air conditioning apparatus. Furthermore, the operation of the system is correlated with that of the operation and tractionof the car itself so that the functioning of the cooling and air conditioning apparatus is in part dependent upon the equipment of the car itself and in part upon the mobility of the car.

In carrying out these and other objects of the invention, applicants employ a plurality of features particularly designed to effect their desired results in the air conditioning of railroad cars and particularly suited for railroad operation and and means interior of (Cl. (i2-i117) in meeting the requirements of railroad equipment and carriage.

One feature of the invention, for example, resides in theI provision of an apparatus unit equipped to intake a plurality of streams of air 6G of dierent character and change the condition of said air, as may be required, prior to discharge Within a related air distributing and circulating system. The design of this unit apparatus enable applicants to utilize this unit not merely as an air conditioning device, but also as a cooling tower.

A further feature provides for continued operation of the system, with proper variance in the mode of operation, regardless of outside sources. Thus, for example, the system is self-contained and independent of an outside water supply.

Another feature provides for utilizing a supply of outside air in combination with a xed quantity of circulating Water for enabling heat transfer to Atake place. As a result, a xed amount of condensing water is provided and a differential in temperature maintained between that existing in one point of the system and that 'produced at another point. Since outside air is utilized for cooling this water, applicants means are designed to maintain this fixed or desirable'diiierential regardless of variations in outside conditions.

Another feature resides in the arrangement of the apparatus Within and under the car for utilizing ordinarily unused space and for assembling the system without necessitating substantially any rearrangement of standard equipment used for transportation purposes and without marring the appearance or decorative scheme of the interior. Applicants system, therefore, is readily adaptable for use in Vexisting railroad cars. Of course, if the system were incorporated during the course of construction of a new car, various changes in design of apparatus and layout could be made to meet diiering needs, or the demands of engineering expediency. However, since the structure of railroad cars is necessarily subject to Well dened physical limitations, the system is particularly designed to allow for such limitations and give a maximum of service with the conventional type of car generally in use, as illustrated in this application.

Other objects and features making for improvements and advantages in design, arrangement, utility and operation of the system or its components will be more apparent from the following description of the invention, to be read in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing in which:-

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an air conditioning system adapted to be used in a railroad passenger car. This view is merely illustrative of one form of arrangement of component elements for carrying out the invention.

Fig. 2 represents a plan view of a car partly insection, and partly cut away, showing the location and inter-relation of Various elements of the system in the car; and

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of a unit in the system employed for conditioning air.

Considering the drawing, similar designations referring to similar parts, numeral 4 refers generally to an arrangement of air conditioning apparatus for a railway car. The arrangement includes an air conditioning unit 5 and a cooling tower unit 6. These units may be substantially identical in design and yet serve different purposes in the system. Refrigeration equipment is provided for producing desired low water temperatures and comprises a compressor of suitable design 7, evaporators 8a, 8b, condensers 9 and suitable piping and auxiliary connections. A pump 10 is provided for serving the condenser circuit including cooling tower 6, while pump 11 is used for circulating the conditioning water used in unit 5.

Referring to Fig. 2 it may`be seen that evaporators 8a and 8b, containing ammonia coils or the like, are located underneath the car as are pumps 10 and 11 and their associated motors. The piping is also located outside the car to as great a degree as possible, the entering connections being made at points proximate the location of the apparatus served. It may be noted that units 5 and 6 are positioned at opposite ends of the car. This space is usually reserved for service or toilet rooms, and by placing the units within such space little, if any, loss in useful area is entailed. Furthermore, the usual construction of the car may be availed of and the usual ap pearance preserved. Compressor '7 is located at the extreme end of the car and in the arrangement illustrated is positioned adjacent unit 5. The compressor may be placed within the same space utilized for the unit or may be positioned in the upper part of the service room usually located at this point. Condensers 9, as shown, are located in the wash room opposite the space shown occupied by compressor 7. Since these tanks take up little area, they may be placed in the upper part of the wash room without affecting the utility of the room in any way. The cooling tower 6 in the service space on the opposite end of the car is likewise inconspicuous and out of the way. 'Ihe ducts 12, 13 provided in connection with the unit are run along the roof of the car and may be arranged without marring the appearance of the interior. It is evident, therefore, that a complete system of air conditioning is utilized although the usual useful area for passenger carriage is preserved.

In the operation of the system the cooling water will follow a course including pump 11,

evaporator 8a, sump 15 of air conditioning unit 5,

reservoir 14 of the unit, evaporator 8b, and back to the pump.

Any suitable refrigerant may be used in the system, as, for example, ammonia. The course of the refrigerant starting from compressor '7 will be in a circuit includingcondenser 9, expansion valve 16, then in parallel through the coils of evaporators 8a, 8b, and back to the compresSOr,

Th evaporators are water-tight compartments or tanks in which the coils for the refrigerant are located. While, in the arrangement illustrated, the refrigerant flows through the coils, it is clear that the arrangement may be such that the coils may be used for water circulation and the refrigerant circulated outside the coils.

The cooling tower circuit for condensing purposes follows a course from pump 10 to condensers 9, entering sump 17 of the cooling tower unit 6, reservoir 18 of the unit and back to the pump.

The motors are suitably connected to the traction equipment of the car so that the pumps are operated whenever the car is in movement.

In the operation of the system, it is often desirable to drain oil from the condensers which is carried by the refrigerant from the compressor. A pipe line 19 provides a means for draining the oil to the base of the compressor, as illustrated.

Units 5 and 6, as more clearly shown in Fig. 3, are equipped with a pump 20 dipping within a sump 21 at the bottom' of the unit. A motor suitably mounted within the unit operates the pump which in turn draws the water from the sump. Nozzles or other suitable means are provided for converting the water into a spray or mist. A fan is also provided and may be operated by the same motor which serves the pump. The units are usually provided with a plurality of inlet openings. In Fig. 3 three openings, for fresh air, return air, and recirculated air, are shown. The fan will therefore draw the air, regardless of its source, through the spray and cause its humidication or dehumidication, depending upon the temperature of the water. The openings may be suitably equipped with louvres, or dampers, for regulating the volumes-of the different kinds of air adapted to be drawn within the unit. In Fig. 2 the fresh air inlet is suitably connected to window 22, so that outside air may be intaken in desired amounts. Any suitable control may be employed for automatically regulating the amounts of air intaken by the unit. The spray formed by the unit is collected within an outer reservoir 23 and then leaves the unit as has already been pointed out. Suitable duct work connects with the outlet of unit 5, which is the air conditioning unit in the illustrated system. This duct work conducts the conditioned air to different points in the car for discharge Within the passenger area.

By providing a conditioning unit -which produces a spray or mist of water through which the air passes in order to be cooled or otherwise conditioned, another and exceedingly important result is attained. As is common experience in railroad travel, an appreciable amount of dirt, dust and cinders lter into a railroad car when in operation, especially during the summer time when the windows are normally kept open. However, with the system herein disclosed, the windows will be retained shut and by passing the air through the spray device of the unit, the dust, dirt, smoke and cinders which would normally enter the car with entering air, are effectively washed out and only clean, cooled air discharged Lasaeaa il;

ture between that of the water at the condensers and that oi' the water leaving the cooling tower. In order to obtain a maximum cooling eiect, it is desirable that the outside air be circulated through the coollng tower in large volume, with little resistance to its course. Ducts 12 and 13 are therefore provided for discharging the air at a plurality of points, as illustrated. Although three outlets are shown, it is obvious that any suitable arrangement of duct work may be improvised to obtain the desired result. In the arrangement shown, the ducts are positioned adjacent the ceiling. Since the space at the end of the car is usually reserved for service or vestibule purposes, this duct worl: is inconspicuous. If desired, it may be hidden by a false ceiling.

The arrangement shown is deemed to meet the requirements of air conditioning on mobile equipment. However, the invention is not limited to the specific means illustrated, nor to the precise system described, and any arrangement, similar in scope, and designed in an analagous way to carry out applicants' objects, is considered within the purview hereof.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. In an air conditioning system for a railroad car, a combination of apparatus comprising a refrigerating device, an evaporator and a condenser in combination with said device, a first spray producing apparatus, means for supplying cold water from the evaporator to said apparatus, means whereby air may be passed through said spray device and supplied to the interior of the railroad car, a second spray producing apparatus substantially identical with the rst spray `producing apparatus, means for supplying warm water from the condenser to said second apparat-us, means for forcing air from outside the car through said second apparatus whereby the water therein may be cooled by evaporation and means for returning the cooled water to the condenser.

2. A system of the character described for cooling a railroad car, comprising a first spray produclng device to cool and clean air supplied to the car, means in combination with said device for sending air through sprays in the device and discharging it from the device, a refrigerating apparatus to supply said device with cold water, a second spray producing device of the same character as the rst spray producing device, for cooling water utilized to absorb heat of condensation resulting from the operation of said refrigerating apparatus, said refrigerating apparatus being operative responsive to movement of the car.

3. In a system of the character described, a refrigerating apparatus, a condenser and an evaporator in combination with the apparatus, a closed water circuit connecting the evaporator with a first spray producing device, another closed water circuit for connecting the condenser with another spray producing device, said spray producing devices being structurally substantially the same, means for routing air through the irst of said spray producing devices, said air being cooled and then discharged within the car, and means for routing air through the second of said Spray producing devices, the air for said second device being supplied from outside the car and discharged outside the car.

4. A system for controlling the condition of air within a railroad car, including a spray producing unit for cooling and dehumidifying air sent to the car, a refrigerating device for supplying cold water to said unit, a second unit similar to the iirst unit for cooling water by evaporation and means for supplying said refrigerating de vice with Water cooled in said second unit for removing heat of condensation.

5. In a system of the character described, a spray producing unit, a refrigerating device, a condenser and an evaporator in combination with said device, a second spray producing unit similar to the rst unit, means for exchanging heat between water in two closed circuits whereby the water in one of said circuits will be cooled and the water in the other of the circuits heated, means for circulating the cold water through said first spray producing unit, means for circulating the warm water through the second -spray producing unit, means for routing air from outside the car through one of said units and discharging said air within the car, whereby the spray in the unit is raised in temperature, and means for admitting air from outside the car to said second unit and discharging it outside the car, whereby the spray therein will be lowered in temperature.

6. In an air conditioning system for a railroad car, the combination of a refrigerating device, including a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, an air cooling and cleaning unit comprising a spray producing device, means for supplying cold water to said device from said evaporator, a second unit comprising a spral producing device similar to the first spray producing device, means for supplying warm water from said condenser to said second device, whereby the heat from the interior of the car may be transferred to outside air, and means for routing air from outside the car through said second device.

7. In a system of air conditioning for a railroad car, a unit for cooling and cleaning the air passing therethrough, means in combination with said unit for drawing air within the unit from outside the car and discharging said air within the car, means for supplying said unit with refrigerated water, a cooling tower including a spray device similar in operating structure to that of the unit, means for supplying water to which has been transferred heat extracted from the refrigerated water to the cooling tower, and means for routing air from outside the car through the cooling tower and then discharging it outside the car, whereby spray in the cooling tower will be reduced in temperature.

8. A combination of apparatus for cooling a railroad car, including a first unit for spraying cold water, means for circulating air through said unit and delivering cooled air to the interior of the car, a refrigerating device including a compressor, condenser and evaporator to supply said unit with cold water, a second `unit similar to the iirst unit for spraying warm water, means for circulating air from outside the car through said warm water, whereby the water may be cooled by evaporation, said second unit-being supplied with warm water from said condenser, and means for returning cooled water from the second unit to said condenser, the air admitted to the second unit being discharged outside the car.

WILLIS H. CARRIER. H. RICHARD ARF. 

